FR2813990A1 - ELECTRIC PUSH-BUTTON APPARATUS - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an electrical device comprising, in a housing (11), a pusher (14) mounted movable in translation between two positions, one deployed, the other retracted, and a selector (20), accessible from the outside the user, mounted mobile between two positions, one of non-interference, for which he lets the push-button move freely between its two positions, the other of interference, for which it is able to maintain disengageable manner the pusher (14) in the retracted position. According to the invention, the selector is movable to slide between its interference and non-interference positions.

Description

The present invention relates to an electrical appliance comprising, in a

  housing, a pusher mounted movable in translation between two positions, one deployed, the other retracted, and a selector, accessible from the outside to the user, mounted movable between two positions, one of non-interference, for which it lets the pusher move freely between its deployed and retracted positions, the other of interference, for which it is able to disengageably maintain the pusher in the retracted position, with, between said pusher and said selector,

  hooking means and a hooking pin which cooperate with each other.

  The invention finds a particularly advantageous application for producing a modular electrical device, that is to say an electrical device whose housing is in the generally flat form, of multiple thickness of a determined module, which allows it to be, if necessary, arranged side by side on

  the same support with other modular electrical devices of the same type.

  According to other applications of the present invention, it may be, for example, a simple contactor intended to allow remote control

of any remote control switch.

  The movement in translation of the pusher of such an electrical appliance is controlled by means of a control button available to the user, said pusher being moreover subjected to elastic means of

  reminder permanently soliciting it in the direction of its deployed position.

  For certain applications, only the deployed position of the plunger must be stable, the latter then systematically abandoning its retracted position when it ceases to act on its control button, while for other applications, this retracted position must it too must be a stable position, the pusher having to remain by itself in this retracted position, or, more precisely, in a retracted service position close to it, when, after the action on the control button, the having led to this

  retracted position, it ceases to act on this control button.

  Thus, depending on the application envisaged, the user need only place the selector in one or other of its interference or non-interference positions

of the pusher.

  Document FR 2 718 566, belonging to the Applicant, discloses an electrical push-button device, as defined above, in which the selector is rotatably mounted in the device case around an axis orthogonal to the direction of the path of the pusher, and in which said hooking means are cam means of the heart cam type, the pusher comprising transversely a groove in which a hooking lug struggles, and said cam means comprising, in a cavity also suitable for the deflection of said hooking lug, on the one hand, an island, in the shape of a heart, which is interposed on the path of said hooking lug, and the point of which is, for the position of interference, directed towards the deployed position of the pusher, and, on the other hand, a set of ramps which are capable of alternately directing the latching lug of the pusher towards the depression of the island when, brought into the retracted position, the pusher is released, e t to remove said latching lug from said island when, the pusher being thus in the retracted position, it is again acted on its

control button.

  Such an electrical device is relatively complex to produce due to

  the arrangement of its selector rotatably mounted on its housing.

  In addition, the arrangement of the selector and the pusher of this electrical device, with a latching pin rigidly mounted on the pusher, is not reliable in the sense that when an operator exerts a torque and / or a pressure force on the selector using a tool, for example a screwdriver, and simultaneously exerts a force on the control button acting on the pusher, it can break the latching pin mounted in the groove said pusher or by deformation of a part of the casing to escape the hooking lug from its mounting groove on the pusher or else

  unclip the selector mounted by clipping on the housing.

  In order to solve the various abovementioned drawbacks of the prior art, the present invention provides a new electrical device of the aforementioned type, which accepts, in any situation, a transformation to pass from the position of interference to the position non-interference of the pusher and

vice versa.

  More particularly, the present invention provides an electrical device comprising in a housing: - a pushbutton mounted movable in translation between two positions, one deployed, the other retracted, and a selector, accessible from the outside to the user, mounted movable between two positions, one of non-interference, for which it lets the pusher move freely between its deployed and retracted positions, the other of interference, for which it is able to keep the pusher in retractable position , with, between said pusher and said selector, hooking means and a hooking lug

who cooperate with each other.

  It is characterized in that the selector is movable by sliding

  between its positions of interference and non-interference.

  According to a particularly advantageous characteristic of the electrical device according to the invention, the movement of the selector is carried out according to

  a direction substantially transverse to the direction of translation of the pusher.

  According to another particularly advantageous characteristic of the electrical device according to the invention, the hooking lug is secured to a flexible tab. Thus, thanks to the translational mounting of the selector on the housing, the electrical device according to the invention is relatively simple to produce, and the flexible tab, to which the hooking lug is attached, allows, by elastic deformation, to '' cash in any modification of the device status carried out by an operator using the selector, in particular all modifications carried out under non-academic conditions such as a modification of the position of the selector while the latching lug cooperates with said means

of attachment of said device.

  With this electrical device according to the invention, there is no longer any risk of breaking the latching pin following a modification of the position of the selector

  or any other change in the state of said electrical appliance.

  Other non-limiting and advantageous characteristics of the electrical device according to the invention are as follows: - the selector comprises an operating member by means of which a user can slide it between its interference and non-interference positions interference, this operating member preventing any possible pivoting of said selector; - Said operating member is a smooth-walled cavity capable of receiving any tool; - Said operating member is a grip handle - the selector is snapped onto snap hooks secured to an inner face of the housing, so as to face the pusher, said snap hooks forming sliding grooves of the selector; - The selector laterally comprises a snap hook capable of cooperating with two parallel complementary grooves provided in an inner face of the housing to maintain said selector in its interference position and in its non-interference position; the hooking means comprise a set of ramps and a depression, the set of ramps being able, in the position of interference of the selector, to alternately direct the hooking lug towards said depression when, brought into the retracted position , the pusher is released, and to remove said latching pin from said depression, when the pusher in the retracted position is brought by pressure beyond this position; the attachment means are provided in a cavity suitable for the movement of the attachment lug; - The attachment means are provided projecting and / or recessed in a mass element; the attachment means are carried by the pusher and the attachment lug is carried by the selector; - The attachment means are carried by the selector, and the attachment lug is carried by the pusher; and - the selector is formed in one piece by molding a material

  plastic so as to constitute a relatively flat part.

  The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings given as

  non-limiting examples, will make it clear what the invention consists of and

how it can be achieved.

  In the accompanying drawings - Figure 1 is a partial schematic view, in exploded perspective, of a first embodiment of an electrical device according to the invention; - Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the cover for closing the housing of the electrical appliance of Figure 1; - Figure 3 is a perspective view of the selector of the electrical device of Figure 1; - Figures 4a to 4d are schematic detail views, from the side, of the various stages of hooking and unhooking of the hooking lug on the hooking means of the electrical appliance of Figure 1; - Figure 5 is a partial perspective view of a second embodiment of the electrical device according to the invention; and - Figure 6 is a detail view, in exploded perspective, of the pusher and the selector of a third embodiment of the electrical device according to

The invention.

  As a preliminary, it will be noted that, from one embodiment to another represented in the different figures, identical or similar elements will, as far as possible, be referenced by the same signs of

  reference and will not be described every time.

  In Figure 1, there is shown a modular electrical device 10, that is to say an electrical device whose housing 11 is in the generally flat form, of multiple thickness of a determined module, which allows it to be, if necessary, placed side by side on the same support with others

  Modular electrical appliances of the same type.

  The housing 11 comprises a body and a lateral closing flange 11b,

  and a cover 1 the upper closure.

  The lateral closing flange 11b is secured to the housing 11 by means of screws introduced into the receiving wells 11'b of said flange

  1 lb and 1le receiving wells of the housing 11 coming in concordance.

  In addition, the cover 1a for closing the upper housing 11 is clipped onto

  the latter by means of clipping teeth 1a.

  The cover 1a comprises a label protection device 11 "'a.

  The housing 11 has, on its edge, on two opposite lateral faces thereof, one or more recesses 11c to give access to connection terminals (here not shown) necessary for serving the apparatus.

electric 10.

  The foregoing provisions are well known in themselves, and, not properly speaking of the present invention, will not be described

in more detail here.

  Similarly, the electrical connection means of the electrical device 10 are not shown here and will not be described in detail, knowing that they

  are well known and are not part of the present invention.

  Only the elements of the electrical appliance 10 will be described below.

  necessary for understanding the invention.

  This electrical appliance 10 comprises, in the housing 11, a pusher 14 which forms a drawer mounted to slide in a housing 11f of the housing so that it is guided properly in translation between two positions, one

deployed, the other retracted.

  The plunger 14 generally has a parallelepipedic contour, elongated in the height direction of the housing 11, perpendicular to the upper faces and

  bottom of the slice of it.

  The translational movement of the pusher is carried out along its longitudinal axis. Control of the translational movement of the pusher 14 is carried out by means of a control button 15 comprising a solid part 15a, the base of which comprises a foot 15'a engaged in grooves 14a provided in the head of the pusher, so that said massive part 15a extends axially

  said pusher 14, and a cover 15b covering the massive part 15a.

  The control button 15 is accessible to the user from outside the housing, because it emerges outside the housing through an opening 1 1 "a

  provided in the cover 1 the upper closure of the housing.

  In addition, the pusher 14 is subjected to elastic return means, here a return spring 13 (see FIGS. 4a to 4d), one end of which bears against the underside of the base 14d of the pusher and the other end come to lean

against the bottom 1 d of the housing 11.

  On either side of a massive part 14c of the plunger 14 extending longitudinally, there are provided pads 14b for mounting electrical contacts

not shown.

  In a manner known per se, these electrical contacts are plugged into these studs 14b and held in position by means of a pressure spring (not shown) bearing, on the one hand, against the contact, and, on the other hand, against

  part of the base 14d of the pusher 14.

  In addition, the electrical appliance 10 includes a selector 20 accessible from the outside to the user via a window 12 provided in the flange.

  closing side 1b of the housing 11.

  This selector 20 is mounted movable between two positions, one of non-interference, for which it leaves the pusher 14 to move freely between its two deployed and retracted positions, the other of interference, for which it is able to maintain so disengageable the pusher 14 in the retracted position, with, between said pusher 14 and said selector 20, hooking means 30

  and a latching pin 40 which cooperate with each other.

  The selector 20 is advantageously movable by sliding between its positions of interference (see FIGS. 4a to 4d) and of non-interference (see dashed lines in FIG. 4a), here in a direction substantially transverse to the

  direction of translation of the pusher 14.

  Of course, one could provide, according to a variant not shown, that the displacement of the selector is effected parallel to the direction of translation of the pusher in an axial direction or even oblique with respect thereto. The selector 20 is formed in one piece by molding a plastic material so as to constitute a relatively flat piece which is snapped into snap hooks 23, 24 secured to the inner face of the lateral closing flange 11b of the housing 11 (see FIG. 2), so as to face the pusher 14 while being relatively close thereto, said snap hooks 23, 24 forming sliding grooves 23a, 24a

  selector 20 between its two positions.

  According to the two embodiments shown in Figures 1 to 5, the latching pin 40 is carried by the selector 20 and the latching means

are carried by the pusher 14.

  Here, the selector 20 makes it possible to interpose the latching lug 40 on the path of the pusher 14 so that it cooperates with the latching means 30, as we will describe later with reference to FIGS. 4a to 4d, or to move it away from the path of pusher 14, as shown more

  particularly in phantom in Figure 4a.

  As shown more particularly in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, the hooking lug 40 is secured to a flexible tab 41 secured to the selector 20, this flexible tab 41 extending parallel to the pusher from the selector transversely to the edges side of the selector 20 which are mounted in the snap hooks 23, 24, and carries at its free end the lug

hanging 40.

  According to the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the selector 20 laterally comprises a snap hook 25 adapted to cooperate with two complementary parallel grooves 26 provided in the inner face of the lateral closing flange 11b of the housing 11, to maintain said selector 20

  in its position of interference and in its position of non-interference.

  Thus, to move the selector 20 from its interference position to its non-interference position and vice versa, it is necessary to disengage the snap hook of the corresponding complementary groove 26, snap the snap hook 25 and each of the complementary grooves 26 being produced

flexibly for this purpose.

  According to an alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 5, in order to temporarily maintain the selector 20 in each of its interference and non-interference positions, the window 12 of accessibility to the user comprises, on its lower edges and upper opposite, small grooves 12a,

  12b in which is housed an operating member 21 of the selector.

  In this regard, according to the example shown in FIG. 5, the operating member 21 of the selector is an oblong-shaped grip handle which protrudes towards the outside of the housing through the window 12 of the housing to allow to a user to translate the selector between its two positions. According to the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 3, the operating member of the selector 20 is a cavity 21 with a smooth wall 22 capable of receiving any tool. In the two aforementioned cases, the operating member of the selector 20 prohibits a user from rotating the selector, in particular using an inserted tool

in the cavity 21 of the selector.

  Indeed, the smooth wall 22 of this cavity 21 does not allow any grip of an operating tool such as a screwdriver to rotate the selector 20 capable only of sliding in the grooves 23a, 24a, between its two positions

of interference and non-interference.

  According to the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the pusher 14 carries the hooking means 30 adapted to cooperate with the hooking lug 40 when the selector 20 is positioned in the interference position (like this

  will be described in detail with reference to Figures 4a to 4d).

  These attachment means 30 are provided projecting and recessed in a

massive part 14c of the pusher 14.

  More particularly, the hooking means 30 comprise a set of ramps, that is to say three projecting ramps 31, 32, 33 and a depression 34. The ramp 32 is set back relative to the ramp 31 (see FIGS. 4a

to 4d).

  Referring to Figures 4a to 4d, we will now describe the cooperation of the hooking means 30 and the hooking lug 40, when the selector 20 is positioned in the interference position by interposing said lug in the translation path pusher 14, as shown in

solid line in Figure 4a.

  When the pusher 14 is brought into the retracted position by pushing the control button 15 inside the housing 11, the latching pin 40 slides

  on ramp 31 and engages in ramp 32.

  Then, when the pusher 14 is released, it is directed by the ramp 32 towards the depression 34 with which it cooperates to maintain the pusher 14 in

  this position retracted by compressing the return spring 13 (see Figure 4c).

  Then, when, via the control button 15, the pusher in the retracted position is brought by pressure beyond this position by more strongly compressing the return spring 13 (see FIG. 4d), the latching lug 40 slides on the ramp 33 and is moved away from said depression 34 so as to release the pusher which then returns under the action of the return spring 13

in the deployed position.

  It is interesting to note that the lug 40 includes an inclined face which

  promotes its separation from depression 34.

  According to an alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 6, provision can be made for the hooking means 30 to be provided in a cavity 35 formed in the selector 20 and suitable for the movement of the hooking lug 40 carried

by pusher 14.

  The hooking lug 40 is integral with the flexible tab 41 carried by the

base 14d of pusher 14.

  Said hooking means 30 also comprise the set of ramps 31 to 33 described above as well as the depression 34, the cooperation between the ramps and the hooking lug 40 taking place in an identical manner, such as

as previously described.

  Thanks to the flexible tab 41 which deforms elastically during the cooperation of the hooking lug 40 with the different ramps 31 to 33, hooking means 30 for alternately directing the hooking lug 40 towards the depression 34 and deviate from it, any breakage of the latching pin or any dislocation thereof is avoided during improper handling of a

  electrical appliance operator 10.

  In particular, the elastic deformation of the flexible tab 41, capable of deforming in two transverse directions perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of said tab 41, allows the latter to absorb a movement of the selector from the position of interference to the position of non-interference, while the latching pin 40 is engaged in the depression 34 of the latching means 30, the pusher 14 being locked in the retracted position inside the housing. Likewise, in this non-academic position of the selector 20 and the latching lug 40, the operator can exert pressure on the pusher 14 in order to release the latching lug 40 from the latching means 30, the flexible tab 41 then returning by elasticity to its initial position with the lug

  hooking clear of the translation path of the pusher 14.

  Such an electrical appliance 10, described above, then makes it possible, so

  reliable, without possible breakage, any manipulation of the electrical appliance.

  The present invention is in no way limited to the embodiments described and shown, but a person skilled in the art will know how to make any variant.

conforms to his spirit.

Claims (14)

  1. An electrical appliance comprising in a housing (11): - a pusher (14) mounted movable in translation between two positions, one deployed, the other retracted, and - a selector (20), accessible from the outside to the user, mounted movable between two positions, one of non-interference, for which he lets the pusher (14) freely struggle between its deployed and retracted positions, the other of interference, for which he is able to maintain disengageably the pusher (14) in the retracted position, with, between said pusher (14) and said selector (20), latching means (30) and a latching lug (40) which cooperate with each other, characterized in that the selector (20) is movable by sliding between its   positions of interference and non-interference.   2. Electrical device according to claim 1, characterized in that the movement of the selector is carried out in a direction substantially   transverse to the direction of translation of the pusher (14).   3. Electrical apparatus according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in   that the hooking lug (40) is integral with a flexible tab (41).   4. Electrical device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in   that the selector (20) comprises an operating member (21) by means of which a user can slide it between its positions of interference and non-interference, this operating member (21) preventing any   possible pivoting of said selector (20).   5. Electrical device according to claim 4, characterized in that said operating member is a cavity (21) with smooth wall (22) capable of receiving a any tool.   6. Electrical device according to claim 4, characterized in that said   operating member is a grip handle (21).   7. Electrical apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in   that the selector (20) is snapped onto snap hooks (23, 24) integral with an inner face of the housing, so as to face the pusher (14), said snap hooks (23, 24) forming sliding grooves (23a, 24a) of the selector (20).   8. Electrical apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in   that the selector (20) laterally comprises a latching hook (25) able to cooperate with two complementary complementary grooves (26) provided in an inner face of the housing (11) to maintain said selector (20) in its position interference and in its position of non-interference.   9. Electrical device according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in   that the hooking means (30) comprise a set of ramps (31, 32, 33) and a depression (34), the set of ramps being adapted, in the position of interference of the selector (20), to alternately direct the latching lug (40) towards said depression (34) when, brought into the retracted position, the pusher (14) is released, and move said latching lug (40) away from said depression (34), when the pusher (14) in the retracted position is   brought by pressure beyond this position.   10. Electrical device according to claim 9, characterized in that the attachment means (30) are provided in a cavity (35) suitable for   travel of the hooking lug (40).   11. Electrical device according to claim 9, characterized in that the hooking means (30) are provided projecting and / or recessed in an element mass (14c).   12. Electrical device according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized   in that the hooking means (30) are carried by the pusher (14) and   the hooking lug (40) is carried by the selector (20).   13. Electrical apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized   in that the hooking means (30) are carried by the selector (20) and   the hooking lug (40) is carried by the pusher (14).   14. Electrical device according to one of the preceding claims,   characterized in that the selector (20) is formed in one piece by molding   of a plastic material so as to constitute a relatively flat part.